


Betrayal

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-05-22
Packaged: 2019-05-10 03:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14729120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: After Steven's real identity is found out, the crystal gems feel betrayed. Can Steven still keep them together? What other consequences are there?





	1. Please poof

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfiction ever! I hope it's not too bad. This is supposed to be a continuation of a single pale rose. I just couldn't wait to see the new episodes, so I wrote them myself!

Steven couldn't believe it. Not only did he learn there are multiple pearls inside pearl's pearl, but that he was lied to all along. He knew, that Pearl could not tell him her secret of course, so he did not blame her. Still, it hurt. His life had been complicated enough already. Trying to live up to everyone's expectations about Rose's son was almost impossible, but trying to be like a diamond? Diamonds are literally perfect, strong and gigantic. Steven was none of those things. He's small and could probably be squashed by any other gem really. Hell, his gem did not even look like a diamond and he's not sure he can turn it like his mother did. He would have to be poofed, but would he survive that? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, while everyone stared at him.

It seems, Pearl and the others were in his living room when he came out of Pearl's pearl.That in itself must have been a shocker for Garnet and Amethyst. In his shock, before he could register what he said, he whispered:"Mom, was pink diamond?". Amethyst seemed shocked, but not angry. Garnet however, split. Saphire ran and teleported away, while Ruby tried to keep her from doing so to no avail. She then teleported as well, to search for her. 

"What do you mean, Steven? You can't be PD, that's insane! We all know Rose shattered her.", Amethyst almost screamed. Steven held his head in his hands; he fucked everything up. Why did he not keep his mouth shut? He's so stupid. It's all his fault... While Steven was too overwhelmed to speak, Pearl explained:" It's true Amethyst. Steven is not insane. See, how would you even know that Rose really told the truth? You did not even exist back then! I'm the only one who saw, out of all the crystal gems.". "Well, what did you see then? PD ramming Rose's sword into herself?", Amethyst did not want to believe them. Nothing made any sense! Rose was their leader, a perfect, strong and TRUSTWORTHY person. She would never have done this. They were family! And even if, Saphire would have seen this coming, wouldn't she?

Slowly, Pearl became frustrated:" No! Listen to me and do not joke abou this, this is serious. I am not who I told you I was either. I am not an ownerless, rebellious Pearl. I was... am PD's Pearl! She had me shapeshift into Rose and poof her as PD. She wanted to rescue earth so badly, but the only way we saw was for her to be shattered. There was no other way! I wish it could have gone by differently...". "Well, why did you not tell us? At least after the corruption you could have told Garnet and the others! What do you think they would have done, killed you both? But you wait no, you two wait hundreds, THOUSANDS, of years to tell us? So many things could have been prevented if we knew.", screamed Amethyst. 

Now, Steven finally regained his courage: "Please stop Amethyst! Pearl couldn't tell you; she was under some kind of diamond-magic spell. And my mom probably didn't want to be PD anymore. I've seen it in dreams; the other diamonds always looked down on her. She just wanted to leave it all behind! How can you blame her for that?". "People died because of her Steven! This is not some kind of joke like Hannah Montana or some shit! Thousands of gems were corrupted because of her. We could have been as well, if it weren't for her fancy shield. How can you be ok with this? YOU'VE JUST BECOME THE ENEMY!". Steven began crying. He was not the enemy! He is Steven! He thought Amethyst was his friend; they even fused! How could she say this? It did not matter who his mom was, it didn't change him... or did it? He couldn't take it anymore and ran to the door of the temple. He just wanted to be alone in his room, where nobody could reach him.

He was really grateful the door opened for him today and stumbled inside:"Room? Don't let ANYONE get inside...". Then he just sat there on the floor. He became painfully aware, that everything in here was *pink*. Just like his damned gem. He looked at it and poked it some:" I wish i didn't have you! You always ruin everything. Now, everyone hates me! The crystal gems, dad, Connie... Even the diamonds would hate me! I wouldn't even be able to prove you're a diamond, looking like THAT. My life could have been so different without you... Who am I even anymore? Steven? Rose Quarz? Pink Diamond? Maybe something completely different; maybe you are even another gem, disguised as a diamond!" Steven heard someone banging on his door. Perhaps Pearl. She was the only one who liked him now. Or did she? She loved PD so much, and she would never return because Steven exists. He seemed to hurt everyone close to him...

"Maybe I should just rip you out, see what happens. Perhaps you'll reform. Then YOU can finally stand up for what you've done. I can't do this anymore." Steven's sobs became louder and he began shaking. An idea formed:" What will happen if I poof? If I even can... But I should be able to. I'm not like a normal human; I can heal faster and I've never bled or anything when I was hurt. But how will i do this?". He couldn't exactly poof himself. The room! "Room, give me someone or something that poofs me! Like those training holograms Pearl always has!". This was dangerous, he knew, but he hoped for the best.

And just like that, a Rose with a sword appeared. Before Steven could contemplate the irony of that, it advanced on him. He was scared, terribly so, because, well, he was going to be impaled by that thing. But he stood his ground. It prepared it's attack and... *It hurt so bad*. Steven screamed in pain, as he saw the sword being rammed into the place, where his heart should be. Still, he noticed he didn't bleed. Which was normal for gems, when they were about to poof, right? RIGHT? The Rose retreated the sword and- nothing. Steven was gone. Only a pink diamond was left behind.


	2. Where's Steven?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl and Amethyst find a diamond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never thought it would be so much fun to write fanfictions! Thank you for reading OwO. Sorry if my fic is a bit darker than the show at times.

"Amethyst, see what you've done! Now you have seriously hurt him. We can't blame him for this, he is just Steven! He is not responsible for what Pink and I did", Pearl muttered while desperately punching the temple's door. "I didn't-", "YOU'VE CALLED HIM "THE ENEMY"!", Pearl loudly reminded her. Amethyst turned away from Pearl. She loved Steven, it was just hard to learn who he really was. Or rather, it's still hard to understand WHAT Steven is. Is he just Steven or is he partly his mother as well? All her life, she knew PD to be the enemy, their arch-enemy more or less, and now she's supposed to be Rose? Rose had been like a mother to her. Amethyst was so alone at first in her kindergarten, being the last to emerge. No one was there besides corrupted gems trying to off her. When Rose came and offered her to join the crystal gems, she was so happy. Rose didn't care she came out wrong or that her room was full of trash. Rose was her hero! The one who shattered PD and rescued earth! And now she is just some kind of traitor and Pearl as well? She did not know what to make of it...

"Amethyst, I could really use some help here! We need to get to Steven, before he does something stupid again, like surrendering himself to the diamonds!". "Ugh, I'm coming. Just for the records, I'm still not ok with all of this. But I suppose you're right, Steven is not to blame for this...", she reluctantly said. She walked over to the door an tried prying it open to no avail. Being Amethyst, she tried shapeshifting into various thing afterwards. The most effective seemed to be a chainsaw, which managed to leave a mark on the door. But still, it did not open. "There must be a way into his room. The rooms are connected in some way, we know that.", Amethyst reminded, while being completely exhausted from all the form-changing. 

"Roses-", "You mean PD's.", "Ugh, *Pd's* room is different from ours Amethyst. I know, that i can get to your's through the water of mine and vice versa, but there aren't really any holes in PD's room. As far as I know, one can only exit it from the inside and go to other rooms, because the room can't "hear you" so to say from the outside and open itself. Of course the normal temple door is an exception.", they discussed. Amethyst, stubborn as always, didn't want to lose to some fancy room:" There must be a way inside! I mean, it's not like some kind of extra dimension you're teleported to. It's walls have to be made out of stone as well.". "TELEPORTATION! Amethyst, you're a genius! Where is that damned lion?", Pearl lit up. "That's not what i meant, but your idea sounds better than blowing the whole place up, I suppose..."

And so, the search for the pink-haired beast began. The thing with lion is, that he is never to be found if one needs him. The two searched everywhere in Beach city: Inside the dumpsters, at the lighthouse, at the donut-shop, in Greg's garage and outside of Beach city as well... " It's useless Amethyst, we won't find that damned cat. He could be on the moon for all we know.". Still, as there was no other option, besides blowing up the temple, they searched further.

Suddenly, the heard faint calls in the distance as they were searching in the desert:" Saphire please! I know you're here, you can't hide forever! Saphire-". Amethyst and Pearl of course recognized their red little friend and ran towards her. She was near a desert temple, turning each stone she found, hoping, for whatever reason, Saphire would be beneath it. "Ruby!", they screamed together and hugged their small friend, which seemed to be a mistake, as she was terribly hot and they burned themselves: "Guys! I've searched everywhere for her, did you as well? Where is Steven? I'm sorry we ran off like that. It wasn't just because of PD being Rose, at least not for me. I still love her, but Saphire... I think her future-vision is going haywire right now, because of all the new possibilities and so she ran.".

"I can imagine that she is quite overwhelmed. Thank you, you don't hate PD for this. I'll explain everything later, okay? Steven hid in his room and were scared he's going to do something stupid. So, we are searching for lion to get into his room.", Pearl calmly said while Amethyst blushed in shame, because it was her fault, Steven hid. More and more, she felt guilty for overreacting, especially now, that she saw Ruby being completely unconcerned with it.

"Maybe she's inside the temple? I don't think she fits under a stone, Ruby. We'll search for her first, she will know where Lion is.", Amethyst shyly added. The other two nodded and so they made their way into the temple. It took a while, but eventually, in the deepest depths of it, there was Saphire cowering.

"Saphire!", Ruby screamed, which seemed to scare Saphire a bit, and ran to her to hug her tightly:"I thought we would never find you! I was so scared. I felt your future vision completely going of the rails when we were still Garnet... I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from that.". "It's... ok, I'm just totally confused. I've seen this reality, but I thought it was completely impossible, so I never thought of it coming true. Now it did and all these new paths opened up to me. I had to be alone for a while to sort through them. I was too scared to say something I'd regret to Steven in my confusion...", Saphire said between quiet sobs.

"It's fine now, Saphire. We'll leave you two alone for a while now to sort everything. First, we need to know where Lion is, though.", Pearl explained to them. Saphire sat there for a minute, searching her mind for where the cat was. This proved very hard however, because there were still new possibilities making themselves known. After some time however, she could answer and began to laugh:" He's at home, sleeping on Stevens bed.". "Seriously? I'm going to bring him to the shelter one day...", Amethyst couldn't believe it, while Pearl did a facepalm.

So, they made their way home and teleported with Lion's help into Steven's room.  
"Wait, WHERE IS STEVEN? HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE!", Pearl screamed in agony, while falling to her knees. They basically searched the whole world for the cat and now, when they finally have it, Steven wasn't even here? But Amethyst looked around, before giving up. And there, hard to see, because of the pink hue and clouds of the room, lay a pink gem."Ugh, Pearl? I think I've found Steven?", "WHAT- WHERE? I can't see him?", Pearl cried. Amethyst knew that explaining anything to Pearl in this state was futile, so she went and picked up the gem. She was rather captivated by it; a DIAMOND! And the pink one at that. It's not every day you hold your arch-nemesis in your hands... No, this isn't the enemy, this was Steven, she reminded herself. She showed it to Pearl, whose eyes widened impossibly wide.

"What happened? Nobody could have come in here and attacked him! I don't understand..." she whispers while carefully taking her diamond into her, in comparison, tiny hands. "Room, please show us what happened!", she pleaded. The room played the scene: Steven devastated, crying on the floor and wishing for something to poof him. Of all people, Rose coming to do so and ramming her sword into her son, who screams and then poofs. "Oh my god, why did he do this? He couldn't even have known he would poof, could he? I mean, we didn't!", Amethyst was almost speechless at seeing her best friend, who was like a brother to her like that. This was all her fault! She began to cry.

"I don't even know what will happen now- who will reform... Steven or PD? Steven is half human, so really, he should be, well, dead..." Pearl was at a loss of words as well. The only thing they could do however, was wait and in the meantime explain everything to Garnet. The crystal gems could only hope none of Steven's friends or worse even, his father, would come to visit him. How would they explain this to anyone? Not even Garnet could predict the outcome of this, still overwhelmed. As far as she knew, there was a chance for both, neither or one of them to reform, but she didn't know, which was most likely. So they just sat there, everyone trapped in their own heads and taking turns in holding the diamond as comfort.


	3. Inside the pink diamond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PD and Steven meeting for the first time.

Steven was asleep and awoke slowly. He didn't dream of anything really, just blackness. He didn't know where he was either; it surely didn't feel like his bed. So he opened his eyes. It was pretty bright where he was, sunny and warm. He felt around with his hands a bit and the he seemed to be lying on sand. He also heard waves, so he finally stood up to take in the scene. He was an Beach city's beach next to the pier. But it looked different. The shops looked newer, some were even missing. As he looked around and came to his senses more, he remembered. He had died... or did he just poof? He hoped it was the latter and that he was in inside his gem.

"Steven!", he heard a woman scream and as he turned towards the sound, he saw a pinkish figure approaching. He could already guess who it was. She came nearer:"Steven, what have you done? How could you risk dying? Why?", she asked. PD was in her other form, the rose quartz one. "First of, I know that you're not really a rose quartz , so turn to your REAL form, before I explain anything to you. I've had enough of being lied to!", Steven screamed at her, while trying to hold back tears. He couldn't believe, that even here in this situation, she would deceive him. "I- I didn't want to lie to you, Steven. I just wanted to protect you." she explained, but Steven wasn't having it:" Protect me from what? From the diamonds? Just so you know, I've already encountered them!". "Steven, I only wanted you to have a somewhat normal life. I hated being a diamond and so I wanted to protect you from it!", she said while still not changing form as requested.

Steven, growing angrier by the minute:" And being the rose quartz that shattered PD was so much better?". "You have to understand; you've probably seen how Homeworld is and how the different gems are treated, what they do to organic life. Had you known you were partly responsible for that, you would have felt horrible. Feeling like a hero was better. Please, now tell me what you're doing here! You should have never been poofed. Did you fight someone?". Steven just gave her the silent treatment, as she didn't fulfill his request. He always thought of her as a great person, but now she just seems to be some kind of liar, a coward unable to stand up to their own faults. Being PD was not ideal either, he knew, but it was better than living a lie. 

However, his mother seemed to understand what was expected of her and reluctantly changed form. Steven was relieved, he hated fights and arguments and would much rather not have them. Also, he was happy to see his mother for the first time. He had seen her in his room and stuff before, but it was never really her. She smiled uncertainly at him to encourage him to speak, which he finally did:" I didn't poof in combat. I've let myself be poofed in our room. I and the crystal gems found out who you were, everyone was shocked and either ran or was angry at me. I couldn't take it anymore and hoped that, if i let myself be poofed, I'd be able to see you, turn my gem or that perhaps you would reform and take responsibility". PD seemed to be seriously shocked. She certainly did not expect, that Steven would risk dying because of her. But he was right, there were many things she had left behind unresolved, so she could understand him being overwhelmed by that:" That was extremely risky, i wasn't even sure what would happen if you poofed! You could have died! I never wanted everything to turn out this way...". Her son suddenly felt bad for making her feel sad, so he hugged her:" It's ok, I'm safe now! I'm still angry that you've lied to all of us, but I wouldn't be able to give you a better plan, either, so I can't put all of the blame on you. I love you, mom, but this is all so weird and new to me... I wish things were different". Pink hugged her son tightly, which made her truly happy. She wanted to do this for so long. Of course, she always was with her son, because of her gem, but this was still different:"Thank you, Steven. I love you, too. I knew you would be perfect. You're so mature for your age, maybe even more than me", she laughed.

After this being resolved, Steven was unsure what he should do next or rather what was supposed to happen next, after one is poofed:"So... what happens now?"  
"Well, normally a gem would gather energy and decide on their new form, while inside their gem. But I suppose it will be different for us, because we are two and you're partly human", she contemplated. "How long does this usually take?", "Well, your injuries were pretty severe I suppose, so a few days at least? I'm not sure either. I don't even know if you can change your form and who will reform. Although I hope it's you". Steven wasn't quite happy with that answer:" I hoped it would be you to be honest. So that you could resolve some things. I mean, we could always just poof you again, so that i can reform".

PD nodded, unsure of what to make of it:" I guess we'll just have to wait. Until then, how about we get to know each other better and play some games? This is almost like our room, we can do almost everything here". Steven lit up at the idea of spending time with his mother for the first time. However, he was a bit concerned about the crystal gems. They surely were concerned about him being in his room so long. That is, they would be, when they stopped fighting. Anyway, he couldn't do anything about that right now, so he might as well enjoy his time with Pink.


	4. Reforming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone regains their form

"How long does he take to do this? It's been days... I never take so long!", Amethyst whined while being stretched out on the couch in Steven's living room. Pearl, who looked like she hadn't slept in ages, snapped irritatedly at her: "Well maybe he's just putting a lot of thought into his form! Not like you...". "If Steven reforms at all. I don't want to discourage you, but it's still uncertain what will happen", reminds Garnet, who doesn't look like anything is remotely wrong, while holding the diamond in her hands. Saphire has calmed down significantly over the last few days, like everyone, and sorted through all the new visions, making her able to finally think clearly again. After Steven found out about the secret, the spell on Pearl hindering to tell it, was broken. So she could explain everything to the others in full detail. Surprisingly, they all took it fairly well. They were a bit disappointed at Pink's lack of trust, but they all agreed that Steven and Pearl weren't to blame for anything.

Now, only the fear of the unknown lingered around. No one knew what would happen. They just sat there on the couch waiting for something, taking turns in holding the gem they all love.

Suddenly or rather finally, the diamond began glowing and Garnet let it fly out of her and. All eyes were fixed on it, each one expecting something different to appear. One just wanted Steven to appear, the other wanted Pink and the last one hoped for something entirely new and cool. The last one seemed to be right: Steven appeared, but he looked rather different. Most importantly his gem had turned to reveal the diamond shape. But he also grew a bit and had fancy pink hair. Otherwise, he was the same old Steven. Garnet practically threw herself at the new Steven, hugging him so strongly, that he almost poofed again. Amethyst and Pearl however, were rather reluctant, both feeling rather disappointed, but they eventually hugged Steven, too. "Man, you've took your sweet time coming out of there", Amethyst said nervously, although she tried to play it cool. "How did you manage to get me out of my room?", Steven said, completely confused, because he didn't expect this. 

"Well, we were concerned and teleported to you with Lion. Only to find you poofed! And yes, we know what happened. Why did you do that? You could have died!", Pearl snapped. Steven hadn't intended for them to see what he did. He would have just told them it was an accident or something, now they probably think he attempted suicide:" I know it looked bad, but I can explain! I just had to talk to my mother and I knew she would be in the gem, since Pearl also had Pearls in her Pearl. Also, I wanted to turn my gem.". "You spoke with her? And why would you turn your gem?", Amethyst asked.

Great, why did he say the last part? They weren't supposed to ask about that." Yes I spoke with her, she explained a lot of her reasons to me and other things. I originally wanted her to reform instead of me, but she wouldn't have it. So she also gave me some missions I had to do, because she couldn't. Uh, and the gem? I just liked the look of it", explained Steven while mentally slapping himself for such a dumb excuse. Pearl smiled sadly:" I already guessed she wouldn't want to reform. I'm happy you're here, but please, never do this again". Luckily she did not press any further on the gem matter. Still, Steven had the feeling Pearl would have rather seen Pink reform. She looked so sad and didn't even hug him sincerely earlier.

Out of nowhere, his phone rang. It was Connie who wanted to meet him. They hadn't met in so long and he really wanted to see her, but:"How am I going to explain this to everyone else? Lars might understand, he died as well, but Connie and dad? Dad will get an heart attack! And the other people in Beach City, what should I tell them?", he asked while looking at the other gems. "And I now have a lot of stuff to do! I really don't have time for this...", he added. "Well if you hadn't changed your form, no one would have known. So, that's on you. But you shouldn't go around telling everyone you're some kind of alien space-queen.", Amethyst said annoyed.  
"I hate to say it, but she's right. You can tell Connie and Greg, but don't tell the others. Especially not Lars. His crew doesn't need to know PD is alive. No Gem should know, really. Don't tell Peridot or Lapis either. I don't really trust them and if Lapis flies to Homeworld...It would be disastrous", Pearl added.

Steven didn't like this. He didn't want to be like his mom and hide from all his friends. And what do the crystal gems know about anything? He bets that, even if everyone knew, besides him, he was PD, they would have lied to him to "protect him". Why were they even so angry at him? He just wanted answers! It's not like anything happened. And now he's supposed to do what exactly? Stay in Beach City forever, hoping that no one from Homeworld discovers him? Living a lie? And everything stays as it always was? Slowly but surely, Steven started doubting the rebellion. Was it worth it? Almost everyone is corrupted, all rose quartzs have been imprisoned and Homeworld is pretty much the same. The only thing achieved is that earth is intact, while other planets are still being colonized. Great.

But he will change this, because he is a diamond!


	5. Steven's change

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven has had enough, he will change the system! But first, he's chatting with Greg.

The crystal gems think he's going to follow every rule they give him, don't they? Well, jokes on them, he's his own mom, so he can make his own rules. Steven is on his way to his dad. He's going to discuss the new developments with him. He has to eventually, so he might as well do it now. His dad always listens to him and offers advice, which is nice. He approaches the van, where his father is sitting with his guitar and playing some tune. "Hey dad", Steven calls. Greg looks up, completely shocked; his son's hair is pink and the gem different:"What happened to you?", he asked, although he already could guess what, which made him scared. He knew a lot more than everyone thought. Rose told him everything, even that she wasn't really Rose. 

"I poofed", Steven said like it was the most normal thing in the world. "Then you probably know, that I already knew who she was; I told her to tell you that, if you ever poofed" he explained calmly. "Yeah, she told me. I wish you would have told me she was PD, though. But that doesn't matter now. Dad, I need to speak to you about the rebellion. What do you think of it?", Steven asked with a sad tone. "i don't know what to tell you, boy. I mean, I wasn't there. Rose always said it was a good cause and that it changed gem-society...", he explained while looking his son in the eyes. He looked so different now, a lot like his mother, but also still different. the main difference is his sad, but determined face right now; Rose never was sad. 

"Could you not call her that? She wasn't a rose quartz, that's just a lie... Anyway, I don't think the rebellion changed much in Homeworld. Mom never visited it again after her shattering, so she wouldn't even know! Everything is the same, just with one diamond less there and hundreds of corrupted gems here. Nothing was achieved!", Steven almost burst of anger. Greg couldn't trust his own senses, his son looked not only sad, but also angry now, which he's not often seen before. Also, his eyes- they looked pink just then! "Steven! Where is this coming from? Of course something was achieved, earth was saved!", he reminded, while patting is back. "But for how long? Do I need to remind you of the cluster beneath our feet? It almost killed us all. Also, the other diamonds know I'm here and think I've killed their sister, they won't just let it slide and say:"Who cares?".They could literally come here any minute or do another corruption beam. Nothing was achieved! It was only delayed. I thought you would understand!", now Steven was screaming. "They won't, I'm sure! And even if they come here, the crystal gems will fight them of like they always do. Don't worry, little man.", Greg tried to comfort his son uselessly, as Steven had already made his mind up:" What if I don't want to fight anymore? What would we even do? Shatter everyone who opposes us? Great idea! This is stupid, I'm going". "Steven!", Greg called, but his son wouldn't listen.

Steven was enraged. Not even his own father understood him. Then there would be no use in going to Connie's either. She would just patronize poor, stupid Steven as well, wouldn't she? Fighting the diamonds is useless. Why won't they understand? They were eight gems in total, one of them is bubbled, the other god-knows-where and the third one useless in combat. So five gems against a whole empire? They would die pretty fast. He could have resolved all of this, if they let him go through with his surrender. He would have paid for his alleged crimes and that's it. They wouldn't have cared for earth any longer. But now? 

He needs to get to the moon base, but before that, he needs to find Lion again. Yay. He best stay clear of Garnet, before she can ask him what's up. She wasn't able to tell he was PD, but now she'll surely look at the almost impossible realities as well. So, he needs to be careful. If this even is an unlikely reality. Why couldn't his mom just reform? Then he could have relaxed, while she did all the hard stuff. Now he has to carry out her plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, so this fic became darker than expected, but I wanted Steven be more independent and also be fed up with being lied to. Of course they would never do that in the show, but who cares, it's fun.


	6. Cats are assholes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven carries out his mother's plan to make things right, but is hindered by his family

Finally, after hours, he found Lion. He lay near Pink's palanquin and sunbathed on his back. "Come on Lion, you have to take me to the moon base.", Steven said, while poking Lion's belly:"It's important and I need to get there fast!". Lion did not care, he was tired from teleporting here. He certainly wouldn't go to the moonbase today, maybe tomorrow, or the day after that..."Lion please! The other's are already pretty suspicious and if Garnet finds out what I'm trying to do... I think the'll just poof and bubble me", he explained while pushing a bit stronger at his furry friend. While searching for Lion, he had to go home to look there as well. His excuse for searching Lion with such urgency was pretty shitty, namely "I want to spend time with him, I didn't see him in so long!".

"See, I've even brought you an offering", Steven exclaimed while shoving some Lion Lickers into Lion's face. He hated those, but if they helped Lion stand up, it's alright. Lion sniffed at them, but ultimately decided, it wasn't worth it. That's when Steven heard it, the teleporter's sound. "Oh no, they're here. Lion get up you lazy cat! You're supposed to be on my side, you traitor! You're only alive because of me. They'll get me if you don't". Then he heard Garnet :"Hey Steven! Weird to see you here!". She smiled and waved at him, at her side Pearl an Amethyst not looking so happy in comparison. They were more or less the complete opposite. All blood drained from Steven's face in pure shock. Now he was in full panic mode. They were going to poof him and he'd have to live in a bubble for all eternity.

"So, we were wondering what you wanted to do with lion and then Saphire had that crazy vision of you, doing something very traitorous and stupid. Funny, eh? But I bet you have a completely valid reason to be here and we're just wrong! Anyway, just to be sure, how about you give lion to us?", Garnet said in a way to happy tone. "I need Lion to go to Lars! He didn't see me in so long!", Steven lied badly. "Didn't you say, you wanted to spend time with Lion? Also, we forbid you to go to Lars. You're behaving really suspicious there", Garnet reminded him while slowly approaching. Everyone had their weapons drawn, so it was clear they didn't just want to talk.

"Suspicious? You're the one advancing with drawn weapons, not me! What are you going to do? Treat me like some kind of corrupted gem?". Steven was lost, how could Lion betray him like that? The other's as well! Now Pearl was speaking, less friendly than Garnet:"Steven, you're just confused! We would never do that, we just want to protect you. And now surrender, before we need do something we'll all regret later". Steven stood and summoned his shield, he was not going down without a fight. He wouldn't just hide. He only did this to protect them after all, to save them from their delusions, that they'll somehow win a war against their diamonds.

That's when the others reacted of course, starting to attack him. Now, Lion sprang to action as well, having seen he's needed to resolve this. Why can't those freaks do anything themselves? He always has to save the day of these puny gems and humans. So he nudges Steven to get onto his back. Steven doesn't have to be asked twice, he isn't really keen on fighting his family. Pearl tries to throw her sword at him to no avail, they are already gone.

"How could he do this? How could SHE do this?", Pearl didn't understand the world anymore and angrily retrieved her sword. Amethyst wasn't totally surprised:" I knew he was the enemy, I told you! But you did not want to belief me, like always. Now he will become one of them and then? Earth will be ruined. We don't even have any chance to get to him any longer...".  
"Amethyst, don't be so pessimistic. There are multiple possibilities of what he will do. Not all of them turn out bad. Well, some are pretty catastrophic, to be honest, but only a few hundred or so. Also, there are chances of us getting to him, even if they are unrealistic. I mean, we have enough prove now, that the unrealistic realities can take place", said Garnet. Garnet wasn't really sure about this, but she needs to be strong for the others. She really wanted to believe in Steven, but it was pretty hard for her. Whatever Pink Diamond told him, it must have been really convincing. Steven would never to this on his own. Garnet knew Steven! He was rather self-sacrificing, but definitely no traitor! At least not in any reality she wishes for.


	7. Restoring of the insignia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The diamonds reunite

The moonbase was always a scary place to be for Steven. It was empty and cold. But now it felt kinda familiar to him. It was technically his, if he thought more about it. When they had been here for the first time Peridot took one of the communicators with her, but Steven hoped there were more. He needed to contact the other diamonds and make things right. He just had to keep an eye on Lion. He has to stay here, if the crystal gems got him, they would be able to follow him. Hopefully, there were no other ways to get here. He would be poofed or worse. Would they dare to shatter him? They thought they already did, so why not. Bismuth would.

He searched the whole place. He did not know for sure there was another one, but he did have a backup plan. If this were to fail, he could pay Lars a visit. They should have some kind of communication device. But he would need a good excuse for phoning the diamonds and he would need to hide his belly, which would be rather unpleasant. He'd rather not use the backup plan to be honest. So he did his best to search the place.

He couldn't find one. Great. Now he really had a problem. What was he supposed to tell Lars and his crew:"Uh, hi Lars! i need to talk to the enemy real quick, so could i use your ship? My gem? I'm ill! It's a really rare disease only rose quartzes get!", that surely would convince him. He could poof the gems and punch Lars unconscious, but Steven doubted he was strong and fast enough to do so. He could poof himself again and reform, but that would cost so much time, only to turn his gem, which he would need to re-turn later again.

Pearl would know what to do, she was the intelligent one! Pearl...! Steven had an idea. PD could give orders to Pearl, which she had to carry out. She could not disobey. But was that exclusive to Pearls or could he do it to other people as well? Lion never obeyed him... Maybe he just did it wrong? He tried to remember how his mom ordered Pearl to not speak about the secret. She definitely said something along the lines of:"As my (last) order to you...". Maybe he had to clarify it was an order? 

He wen't up to Lion, who was sleeping again and said, as a test:"Lion, I ORDER you to stand up!". And just like that, the cat stood up. "I could have saved so much money on Lion Lickers, if I had known this earlier. Uh, I order you to do as you please, but you can't go to the crystal gems for at least... a month?", Steven remarked and hoped that was enough time. Then he climbed into Lion's mane and exited through Lars hair.

"Whaa-, Steven! Give me a warning next time, will you", Lars screamed in shock. He hadn't expected his little friend and- :" Why is your hair pink? Did you grow? What happened to your gem? It almost looks like a-". "Lars, I'm sorry I have to do this to you, but I order you and your crew to not speak to anyone about me being here, what I'm doing here or that my gem is different. Also, I order you to lend me your communicator", Steven interrupted. "What the hell Steven! You can't order me around, I'm the captain here. So if I want to talk about your stupid-", Lars tried to say, but couldn't as he had stopped himself from talking with his hands, like Pearl did.

"I'm sorry Lars! But I needed to do it. Now activate me the communicator", Steven sincerely said. While looking around, he noticed the other gems staring at him in disbelief and fear; they obviously had recognized the pink diamond. Lars finished activating the communicator with something like hatred in his eyes, he did feel betrayed by his friend. Steven had memorized the diamonds' numbers, his mother had given him these while being poofed. Now all that was left, was to choose who to call. White was not an option, he did not even know him, Yellow was rather angry all the time. Blue was Pink's closest friend, so he called her.

Of course her Pearl was the first to answer the call, but clearly did not recognize him. Perhaps because of her long hair in front of her eyes? "Hello. This is the Diamond-Line, who is this?"; she asked, half-whispering. "It's Steven Universe! I need to speak to Blue diamond", he answered while the eyes of Lars' crew became impossibly larger. Blue Pearl still didn't know who he was it seemed, but turned around to her Diamond nonetheless and made her aware of the caller.

"You! How dare you call me? After all you've done Rose Quartz; are you trying to taunt me?", Blue Diamond enquired. "I can explain! Don't hang up, ok? See, this sounds ridiculous, but I'm not who I seem to be! Do you remember the trial; my lawyer pointed out that it was impossible for rose to shatter PD? I now know the truth! It never happened like we all thought, we were deceived! Rose Quartz is Pink Diamond! She staged everything. Her Pearl shapeshifted into Rose Quartz and poofed her. No one was shattered.", Steven explained fast, so Blue couldn't stop him.

"This is insane! How could I belief you? You are not Pink Diamond and now stop pestering me you cruel person!", she shouted. "I can prove it, look at my gem!", he said while showing it to her more directly. She looked at it and her eyes widened. "How...This can't be happening. This has to be a sick joke! You look and sound nothing like her. But still, you have the gem...", she cried.  
"I told you it sounds crazy, but it's true! Let us meet. I'm willing to explain everything in greater detail with all diamonds present. I'm at PD's moonbase. Send me a ship and I'll come to homeworld to resolve this mess!". "I-...Ok, I'll send you a ship and we'll talk. That doesn't mean I trust you however", she said and hangs up.

"This was easier than expected! Uh, thanks guys for letting me use the communicator. Again, i'm sorry I had to do this. I just can't risk the crystal gems finding out my exact plan. I know you'll be home in the next few days. I wish I could have been there, but there are more important things to do", Steven said to a completely shocked, fearful and disappointed crew. Then he went back to the moonbase and waited.


	8. Meeting the Diamond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven meets the other Diamonds

His wait was finally over. A ship arrived for him at the moonbase. It's crew consisted of Rubies, who he did not recognize. The flight didn't take long, because their ship, in contrast to Lars', was intact. He didn't speak to the Rubies; they seemed to be really concentrated on flying. He did not feel like speaking anyway; he rather spend his time on mentally preparing himself on facing the other diamonds. Maybe White would be there as well? He's only ever seen his mural, so he was really excited to get to know him. He just hoped they wouldn't shatter him for his betrayal. They had every right to do so honestly, but he hoped to be able to resolve everything and really change something. Not through fighting, but diplomacy.

When he arrived, he was greeted by some quartz guards. They escorted him to the same room he had his trial in last time. Hopefully it would end better than last time. Whatever happened, he would not run this time. He would face anything that's thrown at him. This time, there were three Pearls. That meant, White Diamond would be there, too. He hoped she was nice. His mom said, she respected her, but that doesn't tell him an awful lot about WD's personality. The Pearls proceeded introducing their respective diamonds, afterwards, they appeared. It was scary how small he was in comparison, maybe he should have taken a bigger form? Too late now.

WD was tall, more so even than Yellow and Blue, it was rather scary. She was the first to speak:" So, Blue informed us about your confession. You claim to be Pink? You're pretty small, you don't look like her, but I see the gem. What other evidence is there, that you are Pink?". "I have the ability to bring living beings back from the dead, as well as making plants conscious. I have the power to order others, as I suppose any Diamond can. Also, I do still have my Pearl, even if she's not with me. Lastly, if I poofed, I would be able to change my form back to how it was. Then I would also look like PD.", Steven explained confidently. Well, at least he thought he looked confident. Inside, he was pretty scared of them killing him, because they didn't like his answer. but his powers were special, he knew that. No normal gem possessed them.

Yellow started speaking next:" Well, let me see your gem up close. You're so tiny, I can't tell from up here!". She extended her hand, like she would with a Pearl. Steven decided to climb on, even if it was kind of embarrassing. Yellow held him up to her face and inspected his gem:"It does look exactly like her's..., but why didn't it before?". Steven answered:" It was turned differently, if I poofed,you could see what I mean". "Hm, why don't we poof you with a destabilizer? So, we could see?", Yellow asked mischievously. "And then you'll shatter me?", Steven snapped, but White added:"Only if you're lying. Then you could also *correct* your form. You don't have a choice in this now anyway. Either you do it out of free will or we force you". "Great, do it then. I hope I don't regret it", Steven gave in.

He was scared, he remembered how much it hurt last time to be stabbed, but this was different, right? Also, he did not have any other option anyway, so he obliged. It did not hurt as much as he thought it would, it only paralyzed him, as, of course Yellow, destabilized him. 

He was at the beach again with his mom already sitting besides him:" I'm very proud of you Steven. You did everything I told you, didn't you? I can't believe they poofed you, though". "They did, but it wasn't so bad. I just hope they keep their promise and don't shatter us now". "Do you think they will?", she asked a bit scared with wide eyes."No, they aren't as angry as expected either. They were relatively nice to be honest. I hope this works out. Do you think I can take your form? Or should you just reform? They want to see it..."; Steven contemplated while feeling, that they were already ready to reform. It did not surprise him much, destabilizers aren't like swords after all. They don't do any damage, they just force the gem to retreat.

"Steven... I don't want to reform; never wanted to, to be honest. I'm happy in here and being part of you, but I can't completely go back. I would ruin everything anyway, so you should reform.I'm sure you'll manage to look like me. I didn't create you to be trapped in here forever.", Pink admitted, what she wanted to tell Steven for so long. Steven could make everything right again, not her. "Now go, they're waiting, I suppose". Steven hugged his mom one last time and reformed.

It was weird looking like your mom and basically being her, but it needed to be done, so it was alright. The other diamonds were truly stunned that Steven or now rather Pink Diamond had not lied. It truly was her. Blue stood up and embraced Pink:" I can't believe you were alive all this time. Why did you hurt us like that. I grieved for so long!". "I couldn't go on like this anymore, what were doing is wrong! We can't just kill of all organic matter and colonize every planet, but none of you listened to me. I had no other choice than "shattering" myself in hopes it would change something. But you did not change, you've just done everything the same old way.", Pink Diamond explained while crying a little. She never wanted any of this, she only wanted to protect the organic life and discarded gems. 

White Diamond seemed to be taken aback:"You did all of this to protect that life? Why, what's so special about it?". PD could not really put it into words, but tried anyway:" It has the ability to change, to adapt. Here, everything is always the same. Nothing ever changes and if you come out wrong, you're worthless. That's just not right".  
Yellow laughed:" I always knew you were different from us. We need the resources, you know that. I see your point, I understand it, but we can't stop colonizing!". "Well, I'm not saying we need to stop completely! Just leave planets like earth alone. At least don't interfere that massively. I don't care about lifeless planets. Also, why do we even still produce so many gems? Don't we have enough?". Blue, sitting again, adds:" She has a point, we surely can leave some planets alone, can't we White? Most planets don't have any life, so it will only be a small percentage we leave alone. Please White".

White leaned back in her throne and contemplated her decision. She wanted to have Pink back, it would surly boost morale, even if the explanation would be hard. And they probably could spare some planets. Hell, they could become some kind of attraction like Pink's zoo:" I agree. Pink Diamond, you are fully accepted as one of the leaders again. We will spare any planets with life, but might still inhabit them and build facilities there. Without destroying the ecosystem, of course". Pink couldn't believe it, she had actually done it! "But what about earth and the crystal gems? Will they be left alone? And my rose quartzes will be freed as well?", she had to know. "Yes. If you'll excuse me now, I consider this trial closed, so I'll attend to my duties", White assured and teleported away. 

While Blue and Pink seemed rather happy about the decision, Yellow still remained skeptic. However, she at least would give Pink Diamond a chance, she decided. With that, Pink Diamond returned to her duties for a while, as at least some of them were very urgent. Of course PD, formerly Steven, wanted to go home, but it couldn't be helped right now. The Diamond Authority had to set new laws, explain why Pink isn't dead and more. She could not leave now. But she will.


	9. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink Diamond and the crystal gems meet again!

The crystal gems were devastated. Steven was gone and betrayed them. Out of all people, Steven was the last one anyone expected to become a traitor. Not only the crystal gems were confused, angry and sad, but also Connie and Greg. Connie was completely out of the loop, as she hadn't seen Steven in a long time. Greg put all the blame on himself:" I should have listened to him more. Maybe if I agreed with him, he would have stayed!". No one really knew what to do, they weren't able to follow Steven. They did not have a ship or even Lion. Some of them even thought Steven might have killed Lion, thrust him into cold open space, to cut of any way to follow him. All in all, everyone was quite shocked and helpless. They pictured Steven as some kind of monster.

They often spend time together now, as a family, because they did not know how long they would still live. Surely the diamonds, restored to full power, would end them soon? Pearl often wondered:" What did Pink Diamond say to Steven in the gem? What could have made him into this monster? Why would she encourage him to become part of them? I thought I knew her..." 

One day, Lars's ship finally appeared. They were finally home. But how cruel was that? They would die here soon anyway! Still, the crystal gems and Sadie welcomed them happily. Garnet, as she at least knew them somewhat, tried to explain the situation:" Steven,... he's gone dark. He changed sides and-". She was interrupted by Lars, trying to talk, but ultimately failing because of Steven's work:" We know, he-". The others didn't understand this weird behaviour and why Lars silenced himself, but Pearl did:" He ordered you to not tell, didn't he?", she stated sadly. She couldn't believe Steven would even do that, after all the trouble it caused them.

"He can do that?", Amethyst screamed in disbelief. "Yes, he can obviously. Any Diamond can, he just had to word it the right way. I don't think it works on humans normally, but because he revived Lars, there might be some gem in him.", Pearl said with a calm, but depressed tone. The situation was just all kinds of messed up.

Circa a month after Steven's disappearance, Lion appeared out of nowhere, so at least he wasn't dead and floating in space. This however, seemed to ignite some new hope in everyone. Maybe Steven wasn't completely lost after all? Still, even with Lion they had no way of going to homeworld. Lars' ship was beyond repair to be quite honest, but they tried repairing it anyway. With the help of their new friends, it even worked quite well! The new addition really liked earth and being free, even if it would not last long. Lars on the other hand, never started to feel at home again in Beach city. He wanted to be in space again. Being a pirate made him happy, he didn't want to sell donuts. He did make friends with the cool kids, they thought the pink was dope, but still, Lars wanted to be with his crew in space. 

Before they could even repair half of the ship however, a ship from homeworld appeared. First, they wanted to fight, but they weren't strong enough. The crew did not just consist of one type of gem, but multiple, meaning, they could do a strong fusion now. Steven probably told them the crystal gems' cheap tactic. They did not stand a chance, not even with the new addition, because those hadn't been trained to fight. Why would they, if they would be shattered or corrupted anyway? So ultimately, they were all captured, crystal gems, the new additions, Lars, Connie, Greg...Anyone close to Steven really.

What kind of sick plan was this? Did Steven want to see them being shattered and the humans put into the Zoo? Wasn't it enough to kill them on earth? Those were common thoughts between the prisoners. They were brought to homeworld and led to Pink Diamond's palace.

There, Pink Diamond sat on her throne, smiling disgustingly sweet at them, a pink Pearl accompanying her Diamond. Pearl had enough:" You've even got yourself a new slave? How could you Pink! And now you're going to watch us getting killed by your guards? What did you do to Steven, trap him in your gem, after you've corrupted him?"

Pink Diamond was shocked to say the least. She had known that her guests would not react kindly, but this? This would be hard work. She stood up and walked towards her "prisoners". She still wasn't used to her size; how tall she was all of a sudden! She knelt down in front of them, to intimidate them even more:" I don't intend on killing any of you. And no, Steven is not imprisoned, as I am Steven, just in another form. Also, this pearl was gifted to me from the other diamonds, I didn't enslave it. You've got it all wrong". Amethyst did not believe her at all:" Sure you are! Well it doesn't matter anyway, both of you are traitors! You left us and joined the enemy!".

"I hoped you would understand. I needed to do this, we couldn't keep fighting the diamonds forever. We would have lost. So I joined them, yes. But I changed homeworld in the process and in turn saved lots of organic life!", Pink explained. Now Lars finally was able to say something as well: "So you just went up to them and told them to do this and that and they did? Sounds awfully familiar!". "Oh, Lars. I had to do that to you, I couldn't take risks. You know I was sorry. But here, I remove the order from you. And no I didn't just order the diamonds around to do my bidding. I reasoned with them", PD laughed. While Lars was thankful for the removed order, he still felt kinda used.

"I shouldn't have let you wait so long, I'm sorry, but I was needed here. I couldn't just go away. In fact, I still can't which is why you had to come to me. Sorry it felt like a kidnapping. Well, it pretty much was, I suppose. But now you can see all the progress I've made and what changed, isn't that great?". The guests still were pretty uncertain and felt betrayed, but they at least didn't think they were going to die any longer. Everyone still had one question, though, which Greg finally asked:" Why do you look like Pink Diamond if you're Steven? That's a pretty weird thing to do, son".   
"Oh, I had to change form for the Diamonds to believe me originally and I don't have a reason to become Steven again. Because, well, I am Pink Diamond", she answered. "But wait, where is the *real* Pink Diamond", Pearl wanted to know. That hurt Pink Diamond; she had given up on being Steven, to be honest. So not being considered the real thing hurt:" I AM the real Pink Diamond. Mom is inside the gem". They frowned at that and Greg asked:" But can we see her? Your mom I mean?".  
"You can't, as she doesn't want to reform. You don't need to ask why, as I won't tell", Pink answered aggressively. Why couldn't they just be happy that she achieved all these things for them? She risked everything for that and they want to know where the "real Pink Diamond is"? It hurt.

Her new Pearl seemed to sense her hurt and wanted to do something:" Permission to speak, my diamond?", she asked while doing the typical bow, at which the original Pearl almost reeled.Steven really was just like them, wasn't he? Making his Pearl ask for the simplest things? "yes", " I think it would be beneficial to give our guests a tour of homeworld and what you've changed? Maybe then they'll understand? Also, you need to return to your work soon", she proposed dutifully. "I see, that's a brilliant idea! You can give them the tour!", PD lit up.  
"Yes, my diamond! Follow me guests...".

Still, even after the tour and even more talks, PD's guests were never quite satisfied. They didn't want to accept, that Steven now was the Pink Diamond, especially not Connie. She loved Steven dearly and now he was just gone? He changed into an alien-space-queen? The other humans couldn't understand either, why Steven had purged anything human from himself. Pearl was put off by the Pink Pearl, that had taken her place and how Steven treated her just like the other Diamonds did. Didn't she teach him anything? They were grateful, for the changes, but they still didn't think enough was changed. What about the caste-system of gem-society? It didn't change at all. But at least they were *allowed* to live, right? Steven didn't seem to notice. He thought he really did save everyone, that he was the hero.

Even when all her guests went home, she stayed in homeworld. She never visited earth again, because she was too busy. And a diamond really shouldn't leave homeworld too often. Steven? Who is Steven?


End file.
